The invention relates to a method of determining the position of unmanned mining vehicles, according to which method excavated mine galleries are measured and control marks are provided in the mine galleries, the marks being used in controlling a mining vehicle.
The invention also relates to a measuring vehicle comprising a mobile base, control devices for driving it unmanned in a mine from a control room arranged outside a mine section to be operated, a data communication unit for transmitting control and measurement information between the control room and the vehicle, and at least one measuring device by which a mine gallery is measured.
Mines are planned such that ore in the rock can be utilized as efficiently as possible and that the mining is efficient. Thus, a mining plan and map of a mine are prepared, according to which mine galleries are made. Among others, the number, length, direction, inclination, profile etc. of the mine galleries are determined in advance. The actual mining of the ore is performed in hard rock, for example such that a so-called fan is drilled in the rock, the fan having a required number of holes according to the drilling plan, the holes being then charged with an explosive. A tunnel, for its part, is done in so-called rounds. The purpose is to separate a part of a desired direction and depth from the rock by exploding, and a further aim is to form blocks of a suitable size, which blocks can be handled, for example, by a loading vehicle to be driven to the gallery. To keep the direction and dimensions of the mine galleries as planned, control measurements have to be carried out at certain intervals in the mine galleries. Conventionally measurements in a mine have been carried out manually. Measuring persons thereby go and determine the right direction of the tunnel by measuring, and similarly in the ore mining, they determine the location of the next fan to be drilled by using distance measurement based on laser, for instance. Manual measurement is, however, slow and the working in a mine may also be dangerous. After the performed measurements, positioning marks are marked, usually by a paint, on the walls of the mine gallery. The rock drilling apparatus is thus positioned at a mark in the manner disclosed in the publication U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,571, for instance. Light sources, such as lasers, pointing to the sides of the rock drilling apparatus are thus fixedly arranged at the apparatus, whereby the rock drilling apparatus is placed at the fan to be drilled, such that the light beams of the light sources are directed at the marks on the walls of the mine gallery. Alternatively, the positioning is made as in the AU publication 700 301. The purpose is to make sure that the mining of the ore continues according to the mining plan.
Furthermore, arrangements are known, which utilize a so-called tunnel laser, i.e. a laser fixedly arranged in the gallery, and a prism/sight arranged in the mining vehicle, or a laser arranged in the mining vehicle and reference points, such as reflectors, correspondingly mounted fixedly at predetermined places in the mine gallery. These solutions, however, always require that a fixed infrastructure is built into the mine. Further, said systems are subject to various errors, wherefore their reliability in demanding mine conditions is questionable.
Already in the near future, more and more unmanned production is taken into use in mines. This refers to so-called teleoperated rock drilling apparatuses, loading vehicles and other mining vehicles, which can be controlled from an external, for example overground, control room by means of video cameras, for instance. Furthermore, a so-called inertial navigation device known per se can be utilized in driving mining vehicles, the operation of which device being based on the gravitational fields of the earth. Such an inertial navigator is otherwise a useful and exact device, but its disadvantage is a high price.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new kind of solution for determining the position of unmanned mining vehicles in a mine gallery.
The method of the invention is characterized by measuring the mine by means of an unmanned measuring vehicle and by marking the control marks by means of a marking device in the measuring vehicle.
Further, the measuring vehicle of the invention is characterized in that the measuring vehicle comprises a marking device for marking control marks onto the mine gallery in order to control other mining vehicles and determine the position thereof.
The essential idea of the invention is that a teleoperated measuring vehicle used for surveying a mine gallery is provided with a marking device, by which control marks are marked in the mine gallery for other mining vehicles. Thus, these marks are utilized in controlling teleoperated and fully automatic rock drilling apparatuses and loading vehicles, which are in production use. An essential idea of the embodiment of the invention is that the control marks are painted on the wall surfaces/roof of the mine gallery by means of paint sprayers arranged in the measuring vehicle.
The invention provides the advantage that no fixed infrastructure has to be built into the mine itself to control unmanned vehicles. Thus the investment costs of the mine can be lower. Further, mining vehicles to be used in the production need not necessarily be provided with measuring and positioning means, such as with inertial navigation devices and the like, but the sensitive and expensive measuring devices are arranged in a separate measuring vehicle. The invention also makes the mining faster, as the operation in an unmanned mine need not be interrupted due to the mounting of the marks, because the marking is carried out safely by means of an unmanned teleoperated measuring device. It is relatively simple to provide the measuring vehicle with the marking equipment of the invention, such as paint sprayers, and it does not cause any significant additional costs. By using the marking equipment, also location information can simultaneously be marked in the mine gallery, the information being utilized in controlling the mining vehicle. An independently controllable mining vehicle has a reading device for reading the location information, in which case the vehicle can be controlled and positioned automatically.